


The Pieces

by ThatWildWolf



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Drama, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Moving On, Nate is a psychopath, Post-Canon, Songfic, Spitefic, Unrequited Hate, Unrequited Love, and both Nate and Nora survived, in which Danse was never a synth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 10:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15117575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatWildWolf/pseuds/ThatWildWolf
Summary: Nate never moved on, believing that Nora was dead.Nora moved on, believing that Nate was dead.A chance meeting in one of the Commonwealth's forests causes old wounds to bleed and new ones to open, as well as brings up doubts about whether some of the loves were ever true. One-shot.





	The Pieces

Nate inhaled one shallow, sharp breath. The cool air connected with his throat and was so much colder than it actually hurt.

He massaged his neck absently. It was alright, everything was fine. He was still alive. It was just another day when he woke up to just another nightmare.

But that was all they were: nightmares. They weren't real.

Nora was dead, and so was Shaun.

"It's been six months," Nate said to himself as he stared into the mirror. Unshaved, grizzly, drowsy... He splashed some water on all of that. "Six months."

It _didn't_ help to say that it'd been six months. He had woken up in that Vault, completely alone, almost frozen to death, with a terrible gunshot wound in his stomach... In all honesty, the cold was probably the only thing that had saved his life. At least, that was what that doctor - what was his name? Nate couldn't remember - had said.

He didn't know what had happened, but everyone else in the Vault had been dead by then. Nora and Shaun had disappeared completely. He set up a symbolic funeral pyre for both of them later, but it had never felt real.

That was why he was still haunted by nightmares.

He didn't know what had happened.

**I • W I S H • I • C O U L D • B L A C K • I T • A L L • A W A Y**

Nate wasn't used to the sight of humans in this part of the forest.

He had chosen this place carefully, because no one with a sane mind ever went there. The whole area was crawling with Yao Guais - or had been before he moved in.

He never really managed to resocialize with people after what had happened. The world was a radioactive wasteland already, and as if that wasn't enough, he had lost everyone he had ever known.

Two hundred years since they had died.

Six months since he had woken up.

Two months since he had seen another person.

But now, there were five. Five! Five people in his territory, acting as if they owned the place. There were three men and two women, if he could tell through their thick winter coats.

They never saw that Yao Guai coming - but Nate did. He didn't know why, but his instincts told him to act.

He killed it without much hassle - he had been doing it for months, and winter wasn't the time for being soft. He had to get his meat in some way.

He looked at the people who were staring at him over the dead bear.

"You've saved our lives." The man in lead stepped forward and took off the hood of his coat. Nate found himself looking at someone who, in other circumstances, might have been his friend. The depth in the man's eyes, the hurt and loss? He knew all of that, because he had seen it - in the mirror.

"Well, yes." Nate looked away. "Don't know who you people are, but this area's dangerous. You should turn back where you came from."

He wanted to leave, then and there. Just leave them be. He had already saved their lives, there was no obligation to stay.

"Oh, my God..."

Nate opened his mouth, unable to speak a word as he, impossibly, recognized one of the women.

She had a scar over her right eye and her hair was much longer. There was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before. She looked almost like someone else, but she looked at him and her expression said everything.

"Nora."

**B U T • I N • T H E • D A R K • T H E R E ' S • S T I L L • A • S O U N D**

He let them go to his cabin. He had never had anyone around, and now he had five guests all of a sudden.

Seeing Nora alive and well should have made him happy. Instead, all he felt was spite. Because she treated him like a long-lost friend, not long-lost lover. He wanted to hug her, to kiss her breathless, to tell her how much he had missed her, how much it had hurt to think she was gone, how terrible he had felt every day when he woke up without her by his side... She didn't seem to need any of that. She settled for a quick, friendly embrace and a few kind words.

The names of her friends were Haylen, Danse, Gavil, and Jensen. They were soldiers, apparently. From some kind of volunteer army, if Nate had gathered correctly.

His wife was a soldier now.

It felt as if he didn't even know her.

"You must be Nate... Nora's husband," Danse asked simply. Nate felt a growing resent for each and every one of them, so he didn't even bother being nice in return.

"I might be," he growled. The man had been acting all but too friendly with his wife so far - he didn't deserve a nice response. Nate felt all but entitled to his anger. "And you're what, her new boyfriend?" He spat out the word as if it were poison.

"Fiancé," the man said simply and somehow, in an instant, Nate felt as though his world had shattered.

**A N D • N O T H I N G • C H A N G E D**

The silence that fell between them was long and uncomfortable.

Nate felt anger rising inside of him. But not at this man. His rage was directed towards Nora, the woman he had considered his loving wife until recently.

He had thought she was the only person in the universe who really understood him. His soulmate. They had been the perfect couple.

And how long did it take her to forget all about him? Six months! Six months and she's making heart eyes at this whole wannabe army officer, this... this _no one,_ almost as if Nate himself didn't exist! And what about all that had held them together? Did that mean nothing to her? What they had promised each other at the wedding, what they had promised privately... Even after being married for five years, even after having his son... She decided to throw it all away. Six months. Six months was all it had taken her to realize she didn't really love him.

No. No, it can't have been Nora's fault. She wouldn't just throw it all away like that.

She had thought he was dead.

But did that really excuse her? Starting a new relationship this soon? _Engaged_ already? She had waited for three years when it had been him. Why? What had he done wrong? What did Paladin Danse have that he didn't?! Paladin? That wasn't even a rank. Nate was a _real_ soldier. What did he lack that she didn't want him anymore?

He didn't even know if it was his fault. Maybe he had it all wrong. Maybe she had missed him so much that she went for the next best thing...?

He could clearly see how desperate that sounded.

**D O N ' T •** **K N O W • I F • I • H A V E • E V E R • H E A R D • Y O U • S I N** **G** **• B U T • I • H E A R • I T**

"What's up there?" Nora asked. He looked where she was pointing.

"That's my observatory... This late in the evening, you might just see the stars," he explained. "They're simply  _aberrant_ up here. You should see that, actually. It's a sight."

Even with everything that had happened, he couldn't help but want to make her happy. Even in this situation, he still loved her.

With all his heart.

He led them up the wooden stairs to the balcony on the roof of the cabin. The light show on the sky was on like always. Radiant. He had never been tired of watching the stars, but now they only irritated him.

"Oh, look," Nora breathed in and Nate didn't fail to notice the way she squeezed Danse's hand. It was clearly more than just friendship. She glanced at him too, but only briefly. "Nate, they're so beautiful!"

"...Yeah," he said absently. "They are, aren't they."

"The best thing is that you can see them much more closely with a bare eye than you would if you had the appropriate apparatus," Danse added and Nate could only feel his heart break when she immediately turned all of her attention to what he had to say. "It's a phenomenon called the-"

Nate didn't want to listen. Who cared about stupid lights in the sky, anyway? He didn't. And neither had Nora - his Nora, the one he had known. She wouldn't have cared.

What? What could have changed her so much in just half a year? She acted differently, she looked differently... Even the way she spoke was different. She was so happy... Almost as if she were grateful to simply be alive.

...What had _happened_ to her?

**D O N ' T • K N O W • I F • I • H A V E • E V E R • H E L D • Y O U R • H A N D • B U T • I • S E E K • I T**

The blimp was called the Prydwen. The organization was some brotherhood of something, Nate didn't really care. All that mattered was that it mattered to Nora. And he would do anything for her, so he didn't protest when she insisted that he went there with the rest of them.

It wasn't too late. She was there, alive and well... It was like a miracle come true. She hadn't married that man yet, there was still a chance. He could still have her back, like it was meant to be. He just needed to show her that he still cared.

So he didn't even protest when she offered him to join the Brotherhood.

"It would really mean a lot to me," she said quietly, pushing the uniform into his hands. He found he couldn't resist. "Even if you don't decide to join... I want you to at least give it some thought. The Brotherhood are really doing a good job out here! They rose from the ashes of the US military, you know. Maybe... Maybe you'll just fit in here."

She gave him a peck on the cheek and just walked away.

Nate sighed, holding the orange jumpsuit in his hands and unsure what to do with it.

"How can she be like this?" He whimpered. "How does she even see the good in people?"

"Believe me, I've been trying to understand that for the last few months," Danse said. He looked away. "You don't have to decide just now. I wasn't completely fair while I was giving Nora that choice, and I want to make it up now. She had to just choose... That was wrong. Joining the Brotherhood should be a well-thought decision." He patted Nate's back. "Take all the time you need."

"I don't need any," Nate snapped, a bit more aggressively than he had intended to. He clenched his fists on the uniform he was holding. "I'm joining up"."

"Because of her? That's not the right motivation."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look, Nate... I don't know what you're doing, but you have to understand one thing: Nora moved on with her life. For the last half a year, she thought you were dead. She was very emotional about that loss, but in the end, she learned how to leave that hurt behind her. This... situation... It's much more complicated for her than it could be for either one of us." He sighed. "I'm not stupid. She still loves you, and I'm not going to have her upset over anything I do. Neither will I stand in your way, if you still have feelings for her that you would want to act on. It's simply not my place. I'm not going to press on, regardless of what you decide. Now you only need to ask yourself: what is more important to you - her happiness? Or yours?" Danse's eyes hardened. "Because _I_ have made that decision."

Nate stared ahead as the man walked away without another word.

He couldn't have heard that right. This man was ready to give up _Nora_ , the perfect woman, for the sake of some stupid ideology? And even more, he dared disguise his ignorance as care? That wasn't unreasonable, it was just stupid! It was...

Or was it? What if Danse wasn't the one who was being unreasonable? What if it was _him_?

No, it was stupid. They were going to take over some super mutant outpost tomorrow. He would prove himself as a soldier, and in Nora's eyes too. Maybe if she really looked at him again, she would see him. And if she did, she would be able to think about their future again. Their shared future. Together.

Just one battle. That was all it would take, and everything would finally turn out.

He could do that.

**D O N ' T • K N O W • I F • I • H A V E • E V E R • L O V E D • B U T • I • F E E L • I T**

Nora looked around, trying to decide whom to help next. Everyone on the battlefield was struggling in one way or another, but who was getting it worse? Danse who was single-handedly fighting a Behemoth with nothing but a one-handed pistol in his hands? Or maybe Nate, fighting against four super mutants at once?

"Nora!" Nate screamed when they attacked him from both sides. She threw herself to help him when another voice caught her attention.

"Nora!" Danse exclaimed. He wouldn't be able to run away before the Behemoth would smash him into pieces.

She stopped, staring. _No... Who to help?!_

Nate looked straight at Nora, surprised that she had stopped. Danse looked at her too, his eyes shrunk in fear.

She knew, deep inside, that she wouldn't be able to save them both. But how could she make that choice? Her husband, the father of the child she had killed and the man whose memory had kept her going in the darkest of her times in the Wasteland? Or her boyfriend, the man who had become her best and only friend in this cruel world, who had given her much more than his love and protection - who had given her a chance to move on, to start a new life? Which of them could she sentence to death? Nate or Danse? How could she choose between the two?

She loved them both. It wasn't the same kind of love, but she did hold a deep affection for both soldiers. One of them, who fought for his fatherland, to protect the ones he loved? Or the other, who fought for humanity, to protect complete strangers? One of the two most important people in her life, one of the only two men she had ever truly loved... one of them wasn't going to survive it.

She loved them both equally. But... Nate had always been there. Danse had only come into her life a few months ago. Her whole character, her strength, was built on the love Nate had given her.

Nora shut her eyes and charged forward.

Simultaneously, Danse cried out in pain when she tackled him, pushing him away, far away from the fighting. He stared at her as they lay on the ground. She had landed on his chest.

"Hi there," she said. Her hair had caught on fire before and was now burnt on the ends, her face was smeared with a mixture of blood, dirt and grease, her clothes were torn and ragged, and she contrasted with the mostly clear Danse so heavily that she blushed.

"Nora..." Danse shook his head, his eyes wide as he stared at her. "You. You're just perfect."

She left a small kiss on his lips. Her eyes were damp and she knew that she was crying, even if she didn't feel it. They just sat up and he hugged her as she cried. He knew she had sacrificed Nate for him and that it was destroying her. Still, Nora promised herself not to regret that choice. Nate had been the past - the sweet, beautiful past which had made her the strong person she was now. But he had always been the past. And Danse. He was not only the present. His love, his protection, his care...? It was all a promise that she knew he would hold with his dying breath. Danse was the future. And that was the choice she had made. She had chosen the uncertain future over the certain memory of the past.

She had finally learned to move on.

**P U T  • T H E • P U Z Z L E S • B A C K • T O G E T H E R , • S E E • W H A T • I ' M • D R E A M I N G**

Nate swallowed, trying to get rid of the heavy lump in his throat. He was covered in super mutant ichor and his own blood, standing in the carcass of the monsters he had killed.

He stared ahead, unable to believe his eyes. Nora. Kissing that man. Not caring if Nate had survived or not. Happy.

The laser rifle fell out of his hands, but he barely even registered it.

He had lost.

His hands went to his belt, for his revolver, before he as much as thought about it. They weren't far, and he had always been a good shot.

He could kill Danse. Right then, right there. But that seemed unbelievably merciful.

Or he could kill Nora and leave Danse alive, make him feel what it's like. To lose her. To go through all that pain Nate himself had gone through. That would break him.

Or he could kill himself. But wouldn't that be like running away? Without his revenge. Without the woman he loved. Without his son. He had lost too much to take his own life too. It was about time he started taking from others.

Nate closed his eyes. The revolver in his hands felt light like a feather. There was one bullet left in the drum.

It was so simple. Just aim and pull the trigger. He had been doing it for so long that it wasn't a problem - neither technically nor morally.

In fact, it was the easiest thing in the world. He aimed.

And pulled the trigger.


End file.
